Senators Warren and Wyden call for disclosure of SSA staff transfer details
In a move that has raised concerns, Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano has reassigned 1,000 field office employees to help answer calls to the agency's 1-800 number. This decision, however, seems to have had an adverse effect on service delivery in field offices, as customer service representatives have been redeployed, leaving these offices short-staffed.
The reassignment pilot program, aimed at increasing the number of staff answering calls to the 1-800 number by 25%, has been met with criticism from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden. In a letter to Bisignano, the senators question the decision to reassign field office staff, claiming it will make it harder for seniors to receive their monthly Social Security checks or address other problems with their benefits.
Senator Warren, who previously released an investigation showing that phone wait times on Social Security's AI-driven 1-800 number average over 1.75 hours, despite the agency's claim of just 19.2 minutes, has expressed her concerns about the 7,000-employee headcount reduction this fiscal year that Bisignano has planned.
The senators have demanded information about the decision and detailed metrics about the teleservice centers' performance in the week prior to the reassignments. They also requested information about the decision to reassign field office staff and detailed metrics about the teleservice centers' performance in the week prior to the reassignments.
Union officials have also voiced their concerns, claiming that the reassignment of employees degrades service delivery. This sentiment is shared by the senators, who accuse Commissioner Bisignano of using the reassignment of field office employees to "cover up the mess" of his additions to AI assistants on the 1-800 number.
Notably, the agency has removed tranches of real-time performance data that were initially published by former Commissioner Martin O'Malley. As a result, there are no publicly available detailed recent performance measurements or statistics specifically on SSA's 1-800 hotline call wait times in the last months.
Bisignano has been promoting automated service options since his appointment. However, the senators' letter raises valid questions about the effectiveness of these measures and their impact on the agency's ability to serve its constituents. The senators' concerns underscore the importance of maintaining a balance between modernising services and ensuring the continued provision of high-quality, personalised service to Social Security recipients.
